Digital Smarts - [current-page:title-plain]
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Federal drug-enforcement officials are claiming the right to impersonate people on Facebook in order to ensnare suspected criminals. A woman whose phone was confiscated found that officials had harvested photos from it and used them to establish a fake Facebook page in her name. Officials insist they were within their rights to use her identity for a "legitimate law enforcement purpose," but some of those pictures included were those of her young son and niece. A Facebook spokesman declined to comment on the case. The site’s “Community Standards” state “Claiming to be another person, creating a false presence for an organization, or creating multiple accounts undermines community and violates Facebook’s terms.” The spokesman said there is no exception to this policy for law enforcement.